


Nightmares

by beautifulandsweet



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Alvarez Teikoku | Alvarez Empire Arc, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 09:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulandsweet/pseuds/beautifulandsweet
Summary: Sting makes a bad choice after a nightmare, and Rogue resists the urge to dump him right off the bed.Post-Alvarez Empire Arc. Includes non-graphic self-harm.





	Nightmares

Rogue rolled over in the bed when he felt the mattress shaking. “Sting?” he asked, reaching out to touch his partner’s back. The skin practically glowed in the moonlight from the window, but he worried when he felt a sheen of sweat. “Sting, wake up.”

The mattress abruptly quit shaking, and Sting sniffed. “I’m awake.”

Rogue hummed softly and kept his hand where it was. There was a reason the twin dragons shared a bed-- had shared a bed since they were kids, really. They both had nightmares. How many times had Rogue jerked awake after dreaming that he had been trapped in the shadow realm, only for Sting to summon a handful of holy light to serve as a human night light? How many times had he been the one to lie awake tracing the scars on Sting’s wrists, the ones that he kept so carefully hidden under his gloves, until Sting fell back to sleep?

They were a broken pair. They could not let the rest of the world know that, of course, but here, in the safety of their bed, they did not have to pretend.

“It’s okay,” Rogue murmured. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Sting still didn’t look at him. “It was _that_ nightmare again.”

Rogue bit down a sigh. It had been months since the battle against the Alvarez Empire. It had been a close victory that had cost them all, but the worst had not been the desperate fight against Larcade or the final push to defeat Acnologia. No, it was the first fight, when Sabertooth had been ambushed and overwhelmed. Even with the help of Blue Pegasus, they never stood a chance.

But as horrible as the pain and humiliation had been, Rogue did not have nightmares about it. He had never really doubted that Sting would get them out of that scrape somehow, but as often as he had told Sting as much, he couldn’t convince him. Sting still had the same nightmare a few times a week. 

Rogue couldn’t blame him. It had been horrifying: the ropes cutting off circulation, the shame of being toted around like puppets in order to demoralize the Fiore defenders, and most of all, the utter anguish of seeing all of their guildmates captured and tortured and not being able to do a damn thing to stop it.

“I can still resign,” Sting mumbled. “I should. I shouldn’t be the guild master anymore. I couldn’t protect any of you.”

“We’ve been through this.” Rogue shifted closer to press his forehead between his partner’s shoulders. “You saved Yukino. You saved me. Hell, without you, Acnologia would have wiped the whole continent off the map.”

Sting huffed, not satisfied with the same words that Rogue must have repeated a thousand times. Unsure how to proceed, Rogue nuzzled closer… only to jerk upright. He smelled blood.

Rogue grabbed Sting by the shoulder and flipped him over. Sting fixed his eyes on the far wall, refusing to look up at him. Rogue was more focused on his wrist, anyway, where Sting had scratched a fresh line across the old scars. Rogue grabbed Sting’s hand away and stared at the dark blood under his fingernail. 

When he spoke, he was surprised that his voice came out even. “You promised not to do that anymore.”

“Sorry.” Sting still refused to look at him. “I told you that I couldn’t protect you. I’m not strong enough.”

“Well, bleeding out isn’t going to make you any stronger.” Rogue resisted the urge to dump Sting right off the side of the bed. Instead, he growled angrily and flopped on top of his partner, who yelped in surprise. 

Rogue refused to move again. Sting’s arms were trapped awkwardly out to either side under Rogue’s weight. It was not comfortable for either of them. Sting had frozen in place, and Rogue could feel his face heating up with embarrassment, even if he did not acknowledge it.

In a different, smaller voice, Sting asked, “Why are you squishing me?”

“Because I’m mad at you.” Rogue shifted so that he could glance down at the scratch, but the blood had already clotted. “You might as well go back to sleep. No more dumbass decisions for you tonight.”

Sting huffed. “Makes you the dumbest ass for sticking with me.”

Rogue lifted his head high enough to give Sting a considering look. “Quite possibly, but you’re not getting rid of me with childish insults. Now shut up and get some sleep.”

When Sting did not say anything else, Rogue shifted a little so that they were both more comfortable, but he was still sprawled halfway over Sting’s chest. Despite the scowl on his face, Sting had relaxed a little, and he placed one of his hands on Rogue’s stomach, absentmindedly trailing a looping design on the exposed skin where Rogue’s sleep shirt rode up.

“I failed you,” Sting said in a soft voice.

Rogue placed a stilling hand over the fingers tracing over his stomach. “You’re still here,” he said. “All you have to do now is stay here. Go ahead and sleep. I’ll keep the nightmares away for a while.”

He didn’t really think it would work, but after a few minutes, Sting dropped off. Rogue followed shortly after.

In the morning, Rogue woke up to an empty bed. He panicked for a moment as he fought into full wakefulness. How had Sting slipped out from under him? Did he do anything stupid, hurt himself more? In his flailing, Rogue managed to crash right off the bed.

“Everything okay?” Sting called from the floor below. His voice sounded normal, cheerful even, and Rogue relaxed. Sun streamed in through the window. It was day, and they were back to pretending they weren’t broken.

Still… Rogue sat up and plucked at the sheets until he found the flecks of dried blood. He was pretty sure that last night had been new fuel for his own nightmares.

**Author's Note:**

> I know there are a bunch of fanfics out there like this, but I couldn't help it, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. Hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
